


Pining Fools

by Shugo_Ookami



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pining, there's DOGS, this got out of hand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 20:16:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shugo_Ookami/pseuds/Shugo_Ookami
Summary: When your best friend mentions a thing and it devolves into me saying "So a 100 Dalmatians AU thing" and here we are.Have some Leo and Takumi being pining idiots who have dogs!





	Pining Fools

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy!

The universe has a funny way of working. In so many ways could things go incredibly right but also, so incredibly wrong. Like this very day. The universe decided to say ‘fuck you in particular’ right to a couple of guys. One of them being the owner of a small bookshop on the corner of an older corner of the district. The other of the pair was a dog sitter who was trying his best to deal with five large dogs pulling him down the street.

“Any other day you guys are all perfect dogs! What is up with all of you today?!” Takumi tried reigning the group back in even as one of them went on their hind legs to look around. “Stop that!” He was laughing about it all though. They were usually such well behaved dogs. Something was up with them today. Trying to switch a leash from one hand to the other was almost a disaster as two others got tangled up and if the largest dog tried to knock him over one more time, he was going to turn them all around and head right back to the building. He just had the leashes set straight when suddenly all of them decided to sit down. “You guys!” He was laughing now, shaking his head at the amount of fluffy dogs looking up at him with dopey faces.

\--

Working at a book store should be boring but when your best friend is the one who owns it, it can be even more boring. There was only so much teasing one person could do to a friend before they just started to ignore it all the time. So to avoid boredom, Niles had started to peer out at the people that milled about and was caught up in watching a guy with ridiculously long hair struggle with what looked to be a small pack of large dogs.

“He’s out there again.” Niles commented, not taking his eyes off the guy. 

“Who?” It was a bit muffled and it took a second for Niles to pick out Leo’s voice from the back of the store.

“That guy that walks those dogs all the time. He’s got five of them today.”

“Now why, may I ask, are you staring at him?” Leo asked as he walked from the back up to where Niles was perched on his desk, staring out the large window. “Its kind of creepy how much you stare at people.”

“If I didn’t look out the window, you’re the only one around that I can bother.”

“Look outside all you want.” Leo muttered as he looked out the window as well. Sure enough, that guy was struggling with the dogs. “Is…Does it look like he’s laughing?”

“He’s been smiling and laughing at the dogs this entire time.”

“How long have you been watching him?”

“How long have I been here?”

“That’s disturbing, Niles.” Leo scoffed, hitting his friend over the head lightly. “Don’t stare at people like that.”

“I don’t see you looking away either.” Niles quickly retorted, batting away the other’s hand. “I’ve seen you looking at him before. Go talk to him.” A book was tossed at his head as Leo finally turned away and walked back to the back of the room. “That’s not very nice to the merchandise, Oh Owner Sir.” There was a thud as another book was tossed towards him, landing near his feet this time. “Lost profits!”

“You need to get lost!” Was Leo’s immediate reply. “I’m going to go grab us some lunch. I’m stopping by my place first to let Ryder out. Any requests for where I get food from?”

“Is Odin coming in?”

“No, he’s off with Elise today out of town.” Leo was speaking as he was grabbing his coat and hat to put them on. “So we don’t have to avoid the super spicy options today.”

“Hell yes!” Niles all but moaned. “Stop by that corner store with the super spicy curry. Why don’t you ever bring Ryder here?”

“Because you and I both know that he would never leave.” Leo said firmly before he walked out of the shop. His eyes were drawn across the road where that guy with the dogs still was at, his laughter sounding so loudly. It was almost annoying. That man was annoying. The way he laughed. The way his hair was tussled by the wind. The way he looked. Everything about him was annoying and Leo hated him. Hated how his eyes kept getting drawn over to him every time he heard his voice. Ridiculous. Scoffing, he turned on his heel and quickly walked down the block towards his home.

He could still hear that guy’s laughter from down the road.

\-----  
“He’s out there again.”

“Niles, I swear you need to find something else to do. What am I even paying you for?” Leo groaned, looking up from the counter to look over at his best friend who was, AGAIN, staring out the window.

“I ask myself that a lot honestly. Why do you even pay me at all?” Niles was grinning, still staring out the window. “He’s got a bunch of different ones today. There’s a couple of smaller ones that keep winding around his feet. It’s kind of funny. Oh. He’s picking one of them up now.” He didn’t have to look over at Leo to know that he was looking out the window curiously now. “Did you talk to him yet?” He narrowly avoided a hit to the head this time. “Seriously, Leo. You get this look on your face every time you see him.”

“And what look could that possibly be?” Leo asked sharply, a glare aimed towards his friend.

“Interest. Attraction. It’s adorable honestly. I haven’t seen you look like this in years.” Niles commented, not trying to be an asshole for once. He still was but he was trying NOT to be. “You should go talk to him. He could be your type.”

Leo was quiet for a short while, his eyes slowly going back to look outside. “Missed my chance.” He said softly, turning back around to get back to his work. He heard Niles hum in response before there was a squeak as his friend got off the chair. “The new shipment came in; its in the back if you wouldn’t mind unloading it all.”

“Of course, My Liege~” Niles hummed happily, mockingly bowing at Leo. He caught the pencil thrown at him in response. “Oooh, finding new weapons I see!”

“Get to work!” Leo yelled at him before he got back to his work as well. His eyes kept drifting towards the window all day long, hoping to catch a glimpse of silvery blond hair blowing in the wind. He had hopes that the universe would be kind to him today.

But it wasn’t.

\-----  
The universe, in fact, wasn’t kind to him for another week following that day. Leo didn’t see the man with the pack of dogs for almost a week and a half. Maybe he missed him every time he happened to walk by. Maybe it was because Niles wasn’t working with him that week and instead Odin was. Maybe the universe didn’t want him to catch a glimpse of silvery blond hair or hear laughter floating down the road. 

Maybe Leo was really interested in the man with the dogs. 

“You look down, Leo!” Odin said loudly, popping up by Leo’s shoulder. 

Suppressing a yelp, Leo quickly rebalanced the stack of books in his arms before he gave his friend a glare. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, Odin.” His tone was harsh but the other just smiled at him happily. “And I’m not down.”

“Oh? You seem upset though. Well maybe not quite upset but hmmm….like something is off in your aura. It’s odd honestly. Not something I see from you all that often. You usually have such a calm and stoic air about you but alas today something is very different. I’ve been trying to figure it out all morning! What is eating you, my friend?” Odin was a fast talker and if he wasn’t stopped soon enough, he’d ramble for hours. “You know you can always tell me what’s going on!”

“I know that. Nothing’s wrong though, Odin. I’m fine.” Leo said quickly as he set the books down before he chewed on the inside of his lip, turning back to face the other. “Well…” Odin just looked at him expectantly. “How did you…Never mind. This is ridiculous and I don’t really want to talk about it at all.”

“Nonsense! Matters of the heart are never ridiculous!”

“Who said it was about the heart?”

“Is this not about that dog walker?” Odin tilted his head, confusion apparent on his face.

“How-Niles.” Leo sighed heavily. “That rat bastard.”

“He mentioned it to me the other week. Said you had this…look about you. And he was indeed correct. You look so wistful any time you take a peek out the window and then it leaves and is replaced with such a look of disappointment that it makes even my heart ache for you. I haven’t seen you look like this in quite some time.”

“Both of you two need to stop paying attention to me.”

“We wouldn’t be best friends if we didn’t, Leo. You matter to us. Quite a great deal if you ask me and if something is bothering you, we’re going to take notice.”

“This is stupid. This is why I wasn’t going to say anything. No, I haven’t talked to him. Haven’t seem around in nearly two weeks.” Leo’s voice grew soft before he shook his head. “It’s dumb. I don’t even know his name.”

“But you want to know it.”

“I want to know.” Leo admitted, looking straight at Odin. “But I doubt it will ever happen. I have to leave early tonight. I had to bring Ryder in this morning for a check up and I have to pick him up before they close.”

“I’ll close up then!” Odin said happily, bouncing slightly. “I promise I won’t rearrange everything this time.”

“I’m still amazed at how you managed to do that last time.”

“It was a very boring night.”

Leo gave him a look before they both started laughing, only being interrupted when the front door chimed as a customer walked in.

“Welcome to Brynhildr Books! Can I help you?”

\-----  
“You stopped doing your usual route? Why’s that?” Hinata directed his question at Takumi as he tried to wrangle the dog into it’s collar. “C’mon girl, sit still please! That’s not like you to completely change it up so suddenly.”

“Is it that odd?” Takumi asked, his brow furrowing as he fought his hair up into its ponytail. “I thought a change of scenery might be nice.”

“Dude, you’ve been using that same route ever since that shop ope-OH. Did something happen? Did you finally talk to that guy?” Hinata asked excitedly, hopping up once he got the dog into her collar. “You’ve been ogling him for MONTHS.” He stopped talking when he noticed Takumi’s face get red. “Oh…you haven’t yet.”

“No. That’s why I stopped going by there. There’s that other guy in there that’s caught me looking into the book store a couple of times now and he’s given me…this really creepy smile. Like he knows what I’m doing. It was unsettling so I stopped going by.” Takumi said with a small shrug. “There’s no way he hasn’t said anything about it so I didn’t want to potentially make anything weird.”

“So you’ve made yourself sad instead.”

“I have not!”

“You’ve been moping around for over a week now dude.”

Takumi let his hands drop to his lap after he got his hair up finally, chewing on his lip slightly. “Have I?”

“Yes. Yes, you have. It wouldn’t kill you to go talk to him at least once. Tell him he’s cute or something.”

“That could go so badly, Hinata. I don’t even know his name, let alone if he’s into men.”

“Won’t know if you don’t even _talk to him_. You said you’ve seen him outside the book shop a couple of times yeah?”

“Yes.”

“And he was alone.”

“Yes but-“

“And you still didn’t even try to talk to him then.” Hinata was trying to keep the dog under control as she was getting impatient about the walk she was clearly promised. “You’re stupid, dude.”

“Hey!” Takumi looked offended. He was but he also knew that, yeah, he was incredibly stupid. He’d been pining after that stupid blond book store guy for MONTHS now. 

“I’m actually surprised you haven’t even gone into the store. You love books.” Hinata commented as he moved around to grab his coat to put it on so he could get going. “I’ve only got this one today, you got the others?”

“Yeah I’ve got them don’t worry. I haven’t gone in because…I’m scared. Maybe I am stupid.” Takumi sighed, shaking his head. “Too worried about being rejected.”

“Won’t be rejected if you don’t even try.”

“Would you just leave already! She’s pulling on her leash.” Takumi blurted out, hopping off his chair before moving to where they kept the leashes. He heard Hinata laugh as the door shut behind him. “Meddling idiot.” He whispered, pouting heavily as he rifled around for the leashes he needed. He found them quickly and went to find the dogs he was supposed to be taking for a walk now. 

It wasn’t until he was well into the walk that he noticed he had taken his old route. Internally cursing himself, he forced himself to pick up the pace and try to get the dogs to move a bit faster so they could leave the area. It didn’t work of course and soon enough, he found himself near the book store. Not able to help himself, he looked across the road and into the store. 

But he didn’t see the blond man that he always saw at the counter. Instead it was a different blond guy who was happily chatting away with a few customers who were incredibly mesmerized by his speaking. Biting his lower lip, he sighed in disappointment before he spurred the dogs back into walking down the sidewalk. “Come on you two. We have to keep moving.” He muttered, trying not to look as sad as he felt. Maybe it was fate that he didn’t see the guy in the book store. Maybe he really was stupid.   
\-----

“I can’t believe you’re actually going to let someone watch Ryder that isn’t a friend or family.” Niles almost sounded like he was in shock when Leo told him about his plans for the weekend.

“Well its not like I want to leave him some place unfamiliar but Camilla is coming with and Xander’s on a business trip and Elise and Odin don’t have the space for him at their place.” Leo sighed, watching his large hound move about the bookshop slowly. “He’s a gentle giant though so he won’t be an issue there. I hope.”

“I could take him?” Niles offered, giving Leo a smile that didn’t reassure his friend one bit.

“We both know that’s a lie. Your place is tinier than Elise and Odin’s.” Leo huffed. He didn’t distrust his friend but Ryder was, well, very large and needed a lot of space to run and stretch. “I appreciate the offer though.”

“It was worth a shot.” Niles shrugged, still grinning. “What place are you bringing him to?”

“Some place a few blocks over. Been around for a few years apparently and has great reviews. I called them the other day to see if there was availability for boarding this weekend and I got him in. I want to go see it before I drop him off tomorrow though.” His eyes moved back to his dog who was now happily padding over to where Niles was seated to flop down at his feet, his tail thumping heavily against the floor when scratches were received on his head.

“I don’t think you’ve been away from him for more than a few hours. Are you going to be able to make it?” Niles teased, continuing his patting on Ryder.

It was true. Leo hadn’t gone for more than a few hours without his beloved dog but it was only for two nights at Camilla’s request to travel with her to visit a friend of theirs. But it was still two nights without his beloved dog. “I think I can manage.” Was all Leo said, looking away towards the pile of books he needed to sort through. “Did we get anymore orders?”

“Just a few. They’re already sorted though. Just need to be placed in bags and put on the pick up shelf. Oi!” Niles let out a yelp as Ryder got up and flopped onto Niles’ lap. Well as best as the he could, considering his size. “You are not a lap dog.”

“Of course he is. He’s in your lap is he not?” Leo said, a grin making an appearance. “He still likes you. Can’t believe it.”

Niles only grunted as he tried to situate Ryder onto his lap, waiting for the big dog to settle down before speaking again. “I only scared him once.”

“Once is enough when it comes to animals.” 

Ryder let out a whine before huffing happily as he placed his head on Niles’ shoulder, his tail wagging so wildly that the chair started shaking.

\-----

“Alright boy, c’mon!” Leo tried coaxing Ryder into leaving the house, feeling guilty at the look he was receiving from him. “I promise I will be back in two days.” He said firmly, kneeling down a bit so he could ruffle Ryder’s ears gently. “It won’t be long.” He got another look from his dog, making his heart ache a little more. He felt incredibly guilty and he knew Ryder knew. 

It took a handful of treats and a promise of even more when he got back before he could get Ryder to move out of the yard and onto the sidewalk. He was going to walk Ryder there, hoping it would calm down both his nerves of leaving Ryder alone with strangers for a few days and also to get Ryder to calm down a bit as well. Walks tended to help both of them so he was going to give it a shot before he left for the weekend. He had to make sure he would check the streets they were on so they kept on track to making it to the boarding house. 

It was nearing the time he was supposed to drop off Ryder so they had to turn around at some point and they made it back just in time. Nudging the door open, Leo looked around and didn’t see anyone at the front counter. Deciding to give it a couple of minutes before he would call out to anyone, he got Ryder to sit and was scratching his ears to give him some last minute attention before he had to hand him over for the next couple of days. Not hearing anything from anyone, Leo finally had it with waiting. 

“Hello?” He called out, getting Ryder to keep calm by his side. 

“Just a minute!” Came a voice from the back, along with the sound of crashing and some cursing following right after it. The door near the back started to open before a yelp sounded loudly and the door quickly slammed shut.

“Uhhh…is everything okay?” Leo called out, raising an eyebrow as he saw the door shake slightly.

“Dude!” Now there was another voice and the door was shaking again but this time it fully opened and a tall male walked through it. “Hi there! Sorry about that! My name’s Hinata! You must be Leo?”

“Yes,” Leo nodded, keeping an eye on the door behind Hinata suspiciously. “Is your friend alright?”

Hinata snorted, obviously holding back a much larger laugh. “Oh he’s fine. Just a bit shocked is all. You came by yesterday right?”

“Ah, yes. A lady named Oboro helped me out. I believe we got all the paperwork filled out?”

“Dog’s name iiiiis, Ryder?” Hinata asked, flipping through the paperwork at the front desk. “He’s a Leonberger? Is that all correct?”

“Yes, that’s all correct.” Leo was finally able to tear his eyes away from the door to move over to where Hinata was stationed at. “I might be back sooner than the two days I originally had planned. I’m not sure yet though.”

“That’s all fine. As long as you do come get him in the planned two days we won’t have to do anything about it all.” Hinata said, flipping through the papers once more. “There it is. All I need you to do is sign this last form saying that you have dropped him off with us and you are all good to go!”

Leo let out a slow breath before grabbing the pen on the counter and signing the paper. “Alright then. And if anything happens-“

“You’ll be called right away. Never been away from him before have you?”

“That obvious?”

“You look like you might faint.” Hinata said bluntly, grinning widely at him. “Don’t worry. We’ve never had any problems happen here. We’ll take good care of him.” 

There was a moment before Leo finally sighed and handed over Ryder’s leash to the other. He stroked down his beloved companion’s back before ruffling his head gently. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t get into trouble.” He muttered, giving Ryder one last pat to the head before he decided it was time for him to leave or else he’d never leave and he really did need to get going or else Camilla would have his head. 

After the door shut, Hinata started laughing and turned towards the back door. “Dude, he’s gone.”

“Positive?” Came Takumi’s muffled voice. 

“Positive. He’s already down the block. I can see him from the window.” There was a whine from Ryder and Hinata quickly gave the big dog a pat on the head to calm him down. “So he’s definitely the guy you’ve been ogling, eh? You’ve got a name now. And even a phone number.”

“I can’t just take a phone number from our records like that! That’s got to be illegal!” Takumi looked offended as he walked out from the back, looking down at Ryder before he smiled and knelt next to him to start scratching his head. “Hey there, Ryder.” He said softly, smiling as the dog licked his hand happily.

“Oh definitely is buuuut~” Hinata grinned at his friend. “You got a name nooooow.” He saw the flush slowly appear on the other’s face, all the way to his ears. “Dude. You’ve got it bad and you haven’t even spoken a word to him.”

“Shut up.” Takumi grumbled, ducking his face slightly but sputtered as a tongue attacked his face. “Oi oi! Down!” He cried out but was effectively pushed over as the large dog continued to lick at the human’s face, his tail wagging furiously. 

“Affectionate. That’s a good sign. If you work up the nerve to actually talk to him when he comes back to pick up Ryder, you might be able to even ask him out.” 

“I doubt that’ll happen.” Takumi sighed, resolved to just pinned to the floor by Ryder who was now happily sprawled out on top of him. “I wasn’t expecting him to have such an affectionate dog honestly.”

“Really?” Hinata asked, peering over the desk to look at his friend. “What makes you say that?”

“Thought he’d be a cat person. Working in a bookshop and all.” Takumi explained, tilting his head back to look at the other. “Just seems to the type to have a calmer animal around if he even had an animal.” He pushed at Ryder’s chest and eventually got the dog to move off him. “Come on boy, let’s get you into your area for the night.”

Ryder barked, his tail wagging furiously again. Hinata and Takumi just laughed before Takumi took the leash to lead the dog to the back rooms.

\------ 

One should never, ever underestimate the feeling of loneliness that is brought upon leaving a beloved pet behind. Even for a day.

“You can calm down, dear. It’s just a short trip.” Camilla said lightly, peeking over at her brother from behind her bangs. 

“Easy for you to say, sister.” Leo bit out. “I’ve never left him with anyone for longer than a couple of hours. Not even with Elise.” His leg was bouncing, his foot tapping against the car floor rapidly. “Why did you ask me to come along anyway?”

“Because I trust you.”

Leo stared ahead at the road before sighing heavily. “Camilla-“

Before he could finish his sentence, Camillla was laughing. “Oh it’s nothing serious, dear brother. No politics this time around.”

“Thank gods.” Was the relieved response from her younger brother. They both chose to not mention the last time Leo was included in a political meeting. There was still a wine stain in the carpet.

“We are going to help out our brother with choosing a wedding venue though.”

If Leo’s brain was a train, it would have screeched to a halt and gone off the tracks. He whipped around to face Camilla. “Are you serious?! When did that happen! No one said anything to me!” He was happy but oh man was he annoyed he was left in the dark about it. “I just had lunch with Felicia the other day and she didn’t say a thing!”

“He proposed about a month ago. I say it’s about time. They’ve been together for how many years now?” Camilla chuckled, turning the car down the street before parking in front of the building they were to meet Xander at. 

“I believe it has been 8 years now.” Leo commented, unbuckling to get out of the car. The brief shock gave him a small reprieve from missing his hound but it hit him again as they started walking up to the building. He started as a hand landed on his shoulder, looking back to give his sister a questioning look. 

“We’ll go back tomorrow to get him, okay dear?” Camilla gave him a warm smile before pulling him into a quick embrace. “I know how you get. If this place had allowed pets, I would have brought him with us. Now, let’s go embarrass our big brother as much as we can!” She let him go just as quickly before bounding into the building to call out for Xander.

Leo took a deep breath and let it out slowly before following after her. He hated this.

\----- 

_RING RING RIIIIIIIING_

“Takumi can you get that please?! I’m a little tangled right now!” Hinata called out, hobbling across the floor as he tried to undo the leashes around his ankles. He hated taking the smaller dogs out for walks. All they did was wind around his ankles and nip at them or each other. Never again. “Takumiiiiiiii?!”

“Yeah yeah I heard you! Hold on!” Takumi yelled back, pushing down a very happy golden retriever from his chest. One treat. He said ONE. He managed to grab the phone as it let out another shrill sound. “Hello, thank you for calling. This is Takumi, how can I help you?”

“Uh, hello there. This is Leo, I was just calling to let you know that I’ll be in today to pick up Ryder.”

Takumi froze the moment the other spoke, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. He hadn’t realized he hadn’t said anything until Leo started asking him if everything was alright. “Oh! Sorry! Had a dog trying to climb up me, sorry!” _Idiot_ He about swooned when he was blessed with a chuckle coming from the other, his hand coming up to clutch at his chest.

“Are you the one who tripped in the back the other day by any chance?” Leo asked, a smile evident on his face by the tone he was using.

Laughing nervously, Takumi cleared his throat. “That might have been me, yes. Would you believe me if I said dogs have a great sense of when you are trying to do something?”

“I’d believe it.” Leo hummed. “Ah, getting off track here. I just wanted to alert you that I’d be there around four or so to pick up Ryder. So if you could have him ready by then I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course! We’ll see you then!”

“Thank you, Takumi.” Leo said before hanging up the phone.

Takumi stood there with the phone in his hand, the dial tone ringing lowly as the phone hung in his hand. Groaning, he let his head thump down onto the desk before he blindly hung the phone back up. He didn’t even move as Hinata and Oboro came into the front, both of them staring at him.

“Takumi?” Hinata asked, tapping the other’s head gently. “Dude? You good?”

“He’ll be here around four.” Takumi mumbled, face still smooshed against the desk.

“Who?” Oboro asked, reaching over to fix the phone.

Hinata grinned widely. “So that means Ob and I need to suddenly have things to attend to! Got it!”

“Absolutely not!” Takumi whipped his head up, looking fearful even as his face lit up in a blush.

“Did I miss something?” Oboro asked, looking between the two of them. 

“Takumi’s got a huge crush on the bookshop guy down the road.”

“That blonde guy with the headband?” Oboro asked, laughing when she got a nod from both of them. “Niles’ friend. Leo?”

“You know him?” Takumi asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Only by association. Niles and him have been friends for years and I’ve stopped by the book shop quite a bit. Nice place. Met Leo a couple of times. He gives off such royalty vibes it’s weird. Nice guy though. Wait that’s who you’ve been majorly crushing on for half a year?!” Oboro started laughing harder. “Oh, Takumi. You idiot.”

“Shut up!” Takumi groaned, sagging against the desk. “I literally just talked to him for the first time ever just now and it was about his dog.” Sighing heavily, he sank into the desk chair. “He’s…really pretty and the one time I did hear him while I was walking past the shop, his laugh was so cute. And the way he moves around the shop is just so-“

“Stop right there. I don’t want to hear about your weird stalking.” Hinata said, throwing a hand up to stop his friend. “We get it. You like him. Just ask him out dude. You never know what could happen.”

“Rejection. That’s the worst thing that could happen. He could think I’m gross for asking him out.” Takumi heaved a sigh, rubbing at his face harshly before he threw his hands up. “I can’t face him. There’s no way I can.”

“You either do it now or never.” Oboro said simply, shrugging. “You’re still an idiot. You love books. I’m surprised you’ve never gone into that shop in the first place.”

“I…I was going to,” Takumi admitted, his face heating up again. “And then I saw who was in there and-“

“Chickened out.” Hinata finished, a wide grin still on his lips. “This is the worst case of crushing I think I’ve ever seen.” Oboro nodded in agreement. “You seriously should be the one to talk to him when he gets here.”

“I’ve got to finish up the month’s paperwork so even if I wanted to, which I DON’T, I would need one of you to do it anyway.” Takumi said firmly, straightening up before he pushed past them to head to the back office. The door shut loudly behind him.

Hinata and Oboro looked at each before they started laughing. “Idiot.” Oboro huffed fondly.

It was a couple hours later that Leo finally arrived to pick up Ryder, looking relieved when his large hound came bounding out from the back to greet him. “Hey boy,” Leo murmured, kneeling down to clip his leash as he pat the ecstatic beast. “No troubles with him?” He asked, looking up at Oboro who was manning the front desk.

“None! He’s a very well behaved one. For how large he is, I was expecting a bit more of an excitable mass.” Oboro commented, smiling as she watched Leo deal with Ryder trying to knock him over.

“He’s always been very calm. It’s a blessing.” Leo hummed, pushing Ryder off of him so he could stand up. “Ready to go? Camilla’s waiting for us.”

“Oh!” Oboro’s shocked voice caused Leo to falter in his steps and give her a confused look. “I was wondering if you two were related! You’re Camilla’s younger brother!”

“Uhh, yes?” Leo said carefully, raising an eyebrow at the woman. “Why-“

“Niles.” 

Leo sighed heavily. “I’m so sorry you know him.”

“Likewise! He mentioned that he had a brother-in-law who was Camilla’s younger sibling. I was wondering if it was you. Same name he mentioned a few times. And Ryder.” Oboro grinned, talking loudly enough that she knew Takumi would be able to hear them. “You run that bookshop down the road right?”

“Yes, I do. Niles sort of works there from time to time.” Leo held up his hand for the ‘sit’ command to Ryder to get him to calm down for a minute while they spoke. “Camilla doesn’t work there but she stops by occasionally to help out if I need it. We should get going. Thank you again for taking care of him. Pass along my thanks to the others.” He gave Oboro a wave as he walked out of the building with Ryder right at his heels.

Waiting until the door shut fully, Oboro turned around to face the office door and started laughing. “You are such an idiot, Takumi. You could have come out and said hello to him!”

Takumi poked his head out and glared at his friend. “Absolutely not. I’ve embarrassed myself enough in front of him.” When all he got was a look from her, he grumbled and looked away. “I face planted into the office door when he dropped Ryder off the other day when I realized it was him and hid the entire time and then earlier I stumbled through the conversation with him and he KNEW it was me who fell into the door.”

“He knew?”

“He asked if it was me and I stupidly said yes.”

“Idiot.”

Takumi groaned, letting his head hit the door frame. “I’m a stupid, pining, idiot. I know. I barely know him other than his name, that he owns a book shop, he has a dog who is the biggest dog I’ve ever seen.”

“I could introduce you two?” Oboro offered, watching with an amused smile as her friend had an internal breakdown. All over some crush. It was really cute. She watched the other shake his head. “Why not?”

Takumi paused, slowly looking around the room before sighing. “I don’t even know. I don’t know what to do about all this, Oboro. It’s not fun.”

“Talk to him for starters. That’s usually how these things work. I’m clocking out for the night.” Oboro waved with a finality as she started for her things. “You need to figure out what to do or else I’ll do it for you.”

She dodged the leash thrown at her.

Takumi eventually picked up the leash and put it away, letting too many thoughts fly around as he tried to figure out what he should do. This was stupid. He was being stupid. All he had to do was go and TALK to Leo face to face. That was easy right? Super easy? So why was he trying to avoid the other male at every single chance they got near each other. 

Maybe a walk would help clear his thoughts. He grabbed the leash off the wall again and went back to the office. “Here girl! Let’s go for a walk, Miki!” He could hear the telltale sound of a tail hitting the floor excitedly but no sound of claws hitting the floor. “Mikiiiiii, c’mooooon! I’ll give you a treeaaaat.” That got her attention and sure enough, she came bounding over to him and almost knocked him over in excitement. “Calm down calm down!” He laughed, managing to latch the leash onto her collar before dragging her out of the building. He sent Hinata a quick message to let him know he was stepping out and Oboro had left for the day before he went about on the usual route for a walk. 

He was about half way before he realized he was near the bookshop. His face immediately flushed and he quickly made sure not to look anywhere near the book shop as he continued down the sidewalk. His mind started to wander as he forced himself to not look, hoping that if he let his mind be blank he wouldn’t focus on the bookshop across the road.

So lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t heard the small shout of someone telling him to look out. And suddenly he was flat on his back with a very large leonberger on top of him. Blinking owlishly up at the dog, Takumi raised a hand to pat the large dog on the head. “Well hello, Ryder. Wait. Ryder?” The dog’s tail thumped happily on his legs. Feeling dread wash through him, Takumi tried to push the dog off his chest but had quite the trouble as he was also trying to hold onto Miki’s leash firmly as she started to get excited over the new friend. As he was staring at Ryder, a pair of legs came into view and made him freeze a bit.

“I am so sorry!” Leo panted, doubled over slightly. “He never takes off like that! Ryder, what has gotten into you?!” He reached for Ryder’s collar and carefully pried him off the poor man he had tackled to the ground. “Are you okay?” He asked, reaching out his other hand to help the guy off the ground.

“I uhh,” Takumi stumbled over his words as he looked up and yep, worst fear came true. Definitely Leo. “It’s alright. Not the first time that’s happened to me.”

Leo started at him blankly before his face went bright red. “You’re…Takumi.” His tone sounded surprised and small at the same time.

“Yes and you’re Leo.” Takumi stated, finally accepting the other’s hand to help him up. He was surprised at how calm he was being and really hoped Leo couldn’t feel his hand shaking a bit. Standing up, he brushed off his pants and looked at Leo again. “He doesn’t do that often then?”

And if there was a way for someone’s face to get even redder, Leo was able to do it. “No! Never! He’s always such a well behaved dog. He doesn’t even jump on the couch; he crawls onto it.” Leo shook his head, running a hand over his face in embarrassment. “I’m so incredibly sorry.”

“That’s funny because he kept doing it at the kennels.” Takumi slowly let a grin creep onto his lips and couldn’t help but start laughing as Leo’s expression turned to shock but before he could apologize again, Takumi stopped him. “It was cute so don’t worry about it.”

“I. Am. So. Sorry.” Leo groaned, throwing a look towards his hound who was now happily befriending Miki by tangling around each other and yipping at each other. 

“It’s fine it’s fine.” Laughing, Takumi loosened up his hold on Miki’s leash a bit so she could move around with Ryder. He could feel the awkward silence growing and Takumi shifted slightly before opening his mouth again. “Would you-“

“So I was-“ Leo had started to speak at the same time as Takumi and quickly shut his mouth, his face heating up again. “Sorry go ahead.”

“Oh uh, I was just wondering if you’d…maybe,” Takumi sighed heavily, looking off to the side as his cheeks slowly turned pink. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Would you like to grab lunch some time?” It came out quickly and he stumbled over his words but he managed to get it out. When he was met with silence, he slowly looked at Leo to see the other’s face was bright red again, even to his ears. Then the laughter started. “H-Hey, you could just say no instead of laughing!” Slightly offended, Takumi frowned as the other started laughing harder.

Waving a hand, Leo brought the other up to his mouth to try and stop himself. “Wait no no. Sorry, for laughing. I was going to ask you the same thing.” He admitted, looking at Takumi with a shy smile. Now he was treated with Takumi blushing furiously. “I’d like to, though. Lunch. With you.” 

Takumi perked up, a smile back on his lips. “Really? When are you free next?”

“Basically any day as long as I have an extra person at the shop.”

“So would Friday work?”

“Yes, it does.”

They parted ways after exchanging numbers. Both of them had dopey grins on their faces.

 

 **To: Oboro**  
_I got his number_  
_and a date this Friday so I need you to work that day_  
 **From:Oboro**  
_Bought damn time idiot. If I had to listen to Niles talking about Leo’s stupid crushing from afar for ONE MORE TIME I was going to do something about it myself. Of course I will, Idiot_

 

\------- 

“I saw everything.”

“Shup up, Niles.” Leo threw a book at him immediately, the blush still high on his cheeks. “Can you be here on Friday?”

“Mm-hm.” Niles hummed, catching the book easily and put it safely on the counter next to him. He caught sight of Leo from the corner of his eyes, seeing the happy smile on his lips. He nearly fell out of his chair in shock at the expression on his friends face. That was happiest he had ever seen Leo. “Oh my gods. So you can be truly happy.”

The binder was a new weapon of choice and Niles was not ready for that one.

\------ 

 

The universe has a funny way of working. Making sure people lived their lives to the fullest. Acing that test that someone thought they were going to fail miserably. Finding an extra bit of money in an old coat that was stored away for the season. 

The universe has a funny way of working and it couldn’t have worked out any better.

Even if it involved two idiots.

**Author's Note:**

> I might write more for this lil au I've got going on. Maybe the lunch date is next?


End file.
